Artist BiographyAvailable in: Tearwave formed in the 2nd week of September 2006 in Lockport, NY (20 miles north of Buffalo,NY). Doug White formed Tearwave with two long time friends Joe Villella and John Stephanski. Villella had been in several previous bands with White over the prior 15 years. His bass playing was always solid, melodic and as White stated: "Joe always has that knack for playing just the right notes and the right amount of notes - not overdoing anything, but getting the right feel and right lines for each song in there - and that's not always the case with bass players. Joe was the perfect fit for the band." Stephanski and White met in junior high school and had always held a mutual respect for each other as musicians. Stephanski had recorded several times in White's Watchmen Recording Studio over the years and White had always told Stephanski that his drumming was unique, interesting and like no other drummer that had come through the doors of his studio. White had always said to Stephanski "...someday, we're going to do some recording together and it's going to be something special." White said of Stephanski: "He would stop by the studio and ask about my latest band and he'd always ask if my latest band was the band that was going to make it." I always replied: "No." White continues: "John is the most open-minded person I've ever met when it comes to music and spotting sounds in music. He is a unique talent, unlike any drummer, musician or person I've ever met." White had known Jennifer Manganiello's vocal talents from her gracing Watchmen Studios as well. Her red wine melody vocals filled the singing position, like no other singer could have done. White states: "Her voice was perfect for what my plans were for this band. She has a strong voice, but she has a true angelic side to her voice that she had not used much in the past. I was all too happy to bring that pretty, sweet and hypnotic voice out of her in the studio - and I think we accomplished that !" Upon the death of Stephanski's long-time best friend and guitar player, Robert "Bob" Collopy - White called Stephanski and said: "I'm forming a group John, this is the one that is going get signed and I'm going to really push to do something big with this project." Stephanski immediately said, yes and was the final piece to the puzzle. While they have been influenced by such classic shoegaze bands as Slowdive, Lush and Ride.; American band Tearwave have attempted to meld their various influences into a unique sound fitting somewhere within the ethereal, shoegaze and dream pop spectrum. Tearwave signed to Projekt Records in November of 2009 after Shoegaze, Darkwave, Gothic, Ethereal and Dreampop message boards began to create a buzz all over the US, Europe, Mexico and Austrailia. Their 2007 self titled debut was released in March of 2007 to critical acclaim. They began to get radio play in Chicago, Los Angeles, Tampa and the tri-state area, particularly, Philadelphia and on the college radio circuit. Their video for their song "Dream Bliss" off of their first album was featured on a Hot Topic exclusive CD/DVD which featured other artists; Robert Smith of The Cure, Skinny Puppy, Type-O Negative and Lucuna Coil. This video was a Youtube smash hit and had over 96,000 when it was "pulled" from Youtube in April of 2009. The first release was followed up by "Different Shade of Beauty," which contained a massive 17 song offering at 77 minutes. It was an epic release and an instant classic according to some critics. TEARWAVES music consists of a great blend of Jenn Manganiello's shimmering and dreamy vocals, supported by Doug White's ethereal and haunting guitars and keyboards, John Stephanski's insistent, muscular and inventive drumming and percussive instruments and Joe Villella driving, thumping and melodic bass lines.